US seeks clarity in new talks on Syria war

Washington hopes Iran, Russia ready to dump Assad

VIENNA, Oct 29, (Agencies): The United States said on Thursday it hoped a new round of international talks on Syria’s civil war would clarify whether Tehran and Moscow could eventually accept a new leadership in Damascus, a senior US official said on Thursday.

More than a dozen powers were headed to Vienna for a fresh effort on Thursday and Friday to end Syria’s four-year civil war in which the United States and its Western and Gulf allies are at odds with Russia and its regional supporters, including Iran.

The comments from State Department counselor Tom Shannon, who has been tapped to become the third-ranking US diplomat, were the most specific so far on US goals for the meetings. Hopes for success at the talks, which bring regional rivals Iran and Saudi Arabia face to face, are low, Western officials said.

US Secretary of State John Kerry was due later on Thursday to meet Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who is attending highlevel talks on Syria for the first time, US officials said.

Zarif told reporters upon arrival in Vienna that he would only discuss the July nuclear deal with Kerry. He added that no solution to the Syria crisis was possible without Iran.

“Those who tried to resolve the Syrian crisis have come to the conclusion that without Iran being present, there is no way to reach a reasonable solution to the crisis,” Zarif said.

Kerry said on Wednesday that Washington was stepping up its diplomacy to end the Syrian conflict, even as it increases support for moderate rebels fighting Islamic State militants.

Speaking in Washington, Shannon said Kerry aimed to test whether Russia and Iran were willing to reverse course and push Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to leave power and to gauge the two countries’ commitment to fighting Islamic State.

Shannon told lawmakers Kerry wanted to assess “the extent to which they are prepared to work broadly with the international community to convince Assad that during a political transition process he will have to go”.

A senior US official in Vienna, speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity, said: “(It is) significant that Iran is here, but until we meet and hear their views, hard to say whether we can find common ground.”